Don’t dash into niche crops

One of the most fashionable among consumers is quinoa, a spring planted annual grain producing plant which is usually bought in small packs to mix into salads. Peter Fairs, managing director of Fairking Ltd in Essex, has been growing quinoa since the eighties.

He says that farmers will always respond to customer demand, but quinoa will remain a niche market because it is a tricky, specialist crop to grow and sell. He originally planted a South American variety in 1986, but found it was very bitter because the surface of the seed was covered with a substance called saponin.
This acts as a natural bird repellent while the seed is still on the plant. “Once it falls on the ground, the rain washes it and it becomes edible,” Mr Fairs explained. “We worked closely with Kings, the seed company based in Essex, and a lot of their trial plots were extended to growing on the farm. While we were trying to grow quinoa for human consumption, we noticed that pheasants and partridges liked the seed.” Rather than having it washed and dried for sale to the public, Kings mixed the quinoa with kale to be used as a game cover for pheasants.

Fairking Ltd did nothing more with quinoa until 2008 when the same person at Kings who Mr Fairs worked with on the game cover suggested that people were starting to eat more quinoa. “We sourced germplasm from all over the place and had some trials done. The result is that today we have our own variety which is not bitter and requires little or no washing before eating.” The seed is not registered and so cannot be sold to other farmers.

Mr Fairs grows 200 acres of quinoa, but estimates that the maximum UK acreage is only between 500 and 1,000 acres. By contrast, Fairking grows 1,000 acres of borage – another niche crop – and contracts out another 5,000 acres. Oil is extracted from the borage seed and is used for skin creams and in pharmaceuticals. Fairking also produces peas, cereals and oilseed rape. “Even if you added together the total UK acreage of the specialist niche crops we grow – such as quinoa, borage and echium – they would not make much impact on farming in this country.” Indeed, said Mr Fairs, they might just rival the acreage of linseed.
“Quinoa is a pretty limited market,” Mr Fairs said. “People add a few grains of it to mix with something else, so it is not a good commodity.” If too many farmers started producing quinoa, there would soon be a surplus and the price would collapse. “That is why these niche crops are so dangerous,” Mr Fairs added.
Selling the by-product of quinoa is not easy, either: for many crops, this could go to the animal feed industry. But as quinoa is bought in 20 or 30 tonne batches, no animal feed company would be interested in quantities that small.

Mr Fairs hopes to make £700 a tonne on quinoa – partly to cover the huge cost of developing the crop. This is before it is cleaned, packaged and stored at a recognised factory. Quinoa yields vary between three quarters and one tonne an acre, whereas wheat can yield four tonnes an acre. So, with roughly the same variable costs, quinoa needs to be at least £600 a tonne if wheat is £150.

The crop needs a lot of nitrogen which comes either from farmyard manure or fertiliser. With small populations of plants on a limited acreage, Mr Fairs said there is no build up of pests and diseases. But the crop does need weeding, and this is done by hoeing between wide rows.

One of the most fashionable among consumers is quinoa, a spring planted annual grain producing plant which is usually bought in small packs to mix into salads. Peter Fairs, managing director of Fairking Ltd in Essex, has been growing quinoa since the eighties.

He says that farmers will always respond to customer demand, but quinoa will remain a niche market because it is a tricky, specialist crop to grow and sell. He originally planted a South American variety in 1986, but found it was very bitter because the surface of the seed was covered with a substance called saponin.
This acts as a natural bird repellent while the seed is still on the plant. “Once it falls on the ground, the rain washes it and it becomes edible,” Mr Fairs explained. “We worked closely with Kings, the seed company based in Essex, and a lot of their trial plots were extended to growing on the farm. While we were trying to grow quinoa for human consumption, we noticed that pheasants and partridges liked the seed.” Rather than having it washed and dried for sale to the public, Kings mixed the quinoa with kale to be used as a game cover for pheasants.

Fairking Ltd did nothing more with quinoa until 2008 when the same person at Kings who Mr Fairs worked with on the game cover suggested that people were starting to eat more quinoa. “We sourced germplasm from all over the place and had some trials done. The result is that today we have our own variety which is not bitter and requires little or no washing before eating.” The seed is not registered and so cannot be sold to other farmers.

Mr Fairs grows 200 acres of quinoa, but estimates that the maximum UK acreage is only between 500 and 1,000 acres. By contrast, Fairking grows 1,000 acres of borage – another niche crop – and contracts out another 5,000 acres. Oil is extracted from the borage seed and is used for skin creams and in pharmaceuticals. Fairking also produces peas, cereals and oilseed rape. “Even if you added together the total UK acreage of the specialist niche crops we grow – such as quinoa, borage and echium – they would not make much impact on farming in this country.” Indeed, said Mr Fairs, they might just rival the acreage of linseed.

“Quinoa is a pretty limited market,” Mr Fairs said. “People add a few grains of it to mix with something else, so it is not a good commodity.” If too many farmers started producing quinoa, there would soon be a surplus and the price would collapse. “That is why these niche crops are so dangerous,” Mr Fairs added.
Selling the by-product of quinoa is not easy, either: for many crops, this could go to the animal feed industry. But as quinoa is bought in 20 or 30 tonne batches, no animal feed company would be interested in quantities that small.

Mr Fairs hopes to make £700 a tonne on quinoa – partly to cover the huge cost of developing the crop. This is before it is cleaned, packaged and stored at a recognised factory. Quinoa yields vary between three quarters and one tonne an acre, whereas wheat can yield four tonnes an acre. So, with roughly the same variable costs, quinoa needs to be at least £600 a tonne if wheat is £150.

The crop needs a lot of nitrogen which comes either from farmyard manure or fertiliser. With small populations of plants on a limited acreage, Mr Fairs said there is no build up of pests and diseases. But the crop does need weeding, and this is done by hoeing between wide rows.